For years, various devices and methods have been used by dentists to analyze and diagnose various dental conditions. These devices are also used to instruct the patients concerning dental conditions and the work needed to be performed to correct the particular dental conditions.
Traditional dental diagnostic and teaching devices have commonly been made in the form of three-dimensional objects. Some examples include a mold of a specific patient's set of teeth, or a three-dimensional block demonstrator holding a typical set of teeth. These three-dimensional devices are useful to provide a clear understanding to the patent and dentist of the condition of the teeth.
However, such three-dimensional dental diagnostic devices are difficult and burdensome to make. Such devices further cannot be modified to show changes in the dental condition of a particular patient. In the example of a mold, a subsequent mold would be required to show changes that have occurred in providing treatment to the patient's teeth. Additionally, these patient-specific devices cannot be used to model the teeth of various patients. Further, traditional three-dimensional dental diagnostic and instructional devices are bulky and therefore difficult to store for maintaining a full record of the particular patient's dental history.
Another traditional method for diagnosing and instructing a patient with regard to a dental condition is the use of x-ray photography. In combination with visually observing a dental condition of a particular patient's mouth, trained persons are capable of diagnosing and understanding dental conditions shown on x-rays. X-rays are, however, difficult for untrained persons to read and understand. X-rays include various extraneous lines and images that cloud a lay person's understanding of what is shown in the x-rays. Hence, x-rays are not the best way to explain a dental condition to a patient.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a dental diagnostic device that is easy for a dentist or other dental professional to use, that presents a clear depiction of a dental condition which is easy for a patient to understand, that can be modified in a custom manner to show dental conditions of various patients, and that facilitates creation and maintenance of a full record of a patient's dental history. The following invention provides these advantages along with many other objects, features, and advantages that will become more apparent from the detailed description that follows.